Container



Dec. 23, 1952 H. M. KlEcKHEr-ER CONTAINER Filed April 28, 1949 PatentedDec. 23, 1952 UNITED E S NT 2,622,585

., CONTAINER Herbert MfKieckliefer, 4Riverton? Ni Jvaiassignor 'l N.Jr., acorporationfo'f Delaware Application :April 28,. 19,49, .Serial N0.110395 (iCl. 229-144) l Claims.

` 1 This invention relates to boxlike'cont'ainers and moreparticularlyto returnable containers of the type lwhich are commonlyus'edto encase beveragebottles, milk. cartons, andlike articles. Suchcontainers are commonly formed'o'f heavy cardboard, and they are usedrepeatedly and are therefore subjected to considerable .wear and tear. Acommon form 'of such containers comprises an `open-topboX-'likestructura and apair'of 'cover naps hinged to the opposed sidevwalls-fof f said structure.

' Prior containers/of this1` type have.` notibeen entirely satisfactory:for a numberfotreasons A common .faultof' such a. container is that thecover flaps tend to fly open 'when thefcontainer is roughly handled.. asis frequently the case. Another objection to'some prior containers is l.that some ofV thefedges are `left unprotected against wear,particularly where the'edges come together'when the cover flaps areclosed, and. such 'edges tend towear very rapidly'particularly when thecontainer is roughly handled. A common form of such containers is onehaving depending flanges along the free edgeso'f' the cover flaps, whichflanges extend through slotsin theend panels of the containerwhenthefcove'r flapsare closed. The 'slotting of theend panels weakensthem, and. when the. container isvcarriedmwith one hand,the'lowermostend panel issubjected to l the weight of the contentsand"may lfold or collapse, particularly ifV the'coverg'opens or if the"small ange breaks so that the fend'panel isjunsupported. Stillanotherobjection isinherent in a'container of thecharacterabove-mentioned.

Where it is desiredto have: an vodd number of rows ofthe encasedarticles' such as bottles ln a container-as is` the.- case-where bottlesare arranged in three longitudinal rows each having our bottles-the"cover flaps must `be of unequal width, since otherwise the* dependingflanges would strike thetops'ofthe,bottlesin the center row. -This isobjectionable,A particularly from .the

`standpoint of filling the open containers `on conveyors. It isdesirable toy have a minimum amount of clearance on both sides of aconveyor which '.carries the containers with the* cover flaps open.

However, if one flap is wider .than the. other, it is necessary toprovide greaterrclearancev on one side of the conveyor than'on-the otherside.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a containerwhich is free of the abovementioned objections of prior containers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container which isstrong and durable, and which is capable of withstanding the handling towhich such containers are subjected.

f-:Another-'-objectof? the inventionis to provide f acontainerwhich isAsimple iny constructionaand which'. is "capable 1of "low` cost-'fmanufacture.

mOther objects and featureswill VVVbe apparent from the. followingdetailed descriptionwithfreference to'the' accompanyingdrawing wherein:

' Fig. 1'is a` perspective vviewiof a container-coni structedf accordingtor the present invention-,- 'with i 'i certainporti'onsfbroken4l awayv'for Ythe* purpose.: of

illustration;

""Figl' 2'is a fragmentarysectional view taken if Fig'. 34 isafragmentary"perspective"VieWilOf @i another"'embodiment of theinvention;

" Fig'. 4 is afragmentary-sectional'view ,taken TRefe'rring rst'to-Fgs'. l and 2,there is'shown a containerv comprising an'-'operr-topbox-like :structuredesignated generallyV by 4reference*character"|0", and al pairiof lcover flaps Il and` l2 hingedrespectively to two opposed walls of said structure. In its preferredform the container I4, and end walls I5 and I6, the-cover-flapsfbeinghingedto the side Walls.

InfaccordanceV with the presentinventioneach i coveriflap iswformed Vsolthat it has vdepending .'.zfl'anges ITand l 8 'onlyat its/ends,A the lunhinged longitudinal edge yof the flap being free of anydepending'angef A` rod* l9,-p`referably formed "of metal andy havingsubstantial stiffness; .but being somewhatresilient; is secured-to theunder- .side of the "cover flap adj acen-tV the longitudinal L 'edgethereof; and this rrodV has bent end vportions `ZIland 2lYassociatedwith"'the endflanges I1 and l'and securedftheretof*Preferably-thefrod I9 is secured to'the'cover flap and to itsendfflangesvvv"thecoverfllaps by means of inwardly turned portions 22;` andl23,which are stapled as at 24 and 25. This'arrangement. adds greatly tothestiffness and strength of 'terrpted upper edge and has a recess'oraperture 1""26 in' spaced relation to said edge and adapted tov.receivethe e'ndsioffthe` rods.` "As shown-inFig. 2,

the upper portion'ofieach end wall isof double thickness, thewall-having a' down-turnedextension`21 .which is Vstapledal' 28.. Alingerv slot 29 is provided in each end wallgand a'llap-Sll is turnedinwardly from said slotinto" engagement with the extension"2l."The"aperture 26' is pronumber of advantages are obtained. The rods supportthe end panels when the cover flaps are closed, and prevent either endpanel from folding or collapsing when the container is carried with onehand, even if the flanges are turned away from the end panels. Since theunhinged longitudinal edges of the cover flaps are free of dependingflanges, the fiapsmay be of the same width even where it is desired thatthe container shall encase an odd number of rows of bottles or likearticles. Moreover, the said longitudinal edges of the cover flaps, aswell as the end flanges thereof, are strengthened and rigidied by therods. Further still, the structure provides for positive interlocking ofthe cover flaps with the end walls, and there is no tendency for theflaps to fly open even when the container is roughly handled. Furtherstill, the structure leaves no unreinforced edges which are subject towear. In this connection it will be noted that the upper edges of theend walls are reinforced by virtue of the double thickness, as are alsothe upper edges of the finger openings 29 where lifting force isapplied.

In Figs. 3 and 4 there is illustrated another embodiment of theinvention wherein the end wall structure is somewhat different than inthe previously described embodiment. In this instance each end wall hasa down-turned flange 32 which engages the inside of the wall proper, anda portion 33 of said extension extends through the finger slot 34 and isformed to provide a guard 35 over the associated end portions of therods. As may be seen in Fig. 3, the ends of the guard 35 are stapled at38. In this instance, the detent end portion of each rod extendssubstantially below the cover flange, as may be seen in Fig. 4, and theguard 35 prevents contact with the end portions of the rods duringhandling of the container with the cover flaps spaced relation to theupper edge, a pair of cover closed. Aside from the differencesmentioned, A

the embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4 is similar to that of Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be seen that the invention provides a container which is free ofthe various objections understood that the invention is not limited,

thereto but is capable of various other embodiments.

I claim:

1. A container comprising side and end walls and a bottom forming anopen-top box-like struc# ture, each of said end walls having anuninterrupted upper edge and having a recess in spaced relation to theupper edge, a pair of cover flaps hinged respectively to said sidewalls, each cover flap having flanges only at its ends, and a membercarried by each cover flap and extending completely along the undersideof the cover flap adjacent the free longitudinal edge thereof and alongthe inside of said flanges and serving to reinforce the cover flap, theend portions of each flaps hinged respectively tc said side walls, eachcover flap having flanges only at its ends, and a rod carried by eachcover flap and extending completely along the underside of the coverflap adjacent the free longitudinal edge thereof and along the inside ofsaid flanges and serving to reinforce the cover flap, the end portionsof each rod being shaped to provide detent elements removably seatablein the recesses in said end walls to effect snap latching of each coverflap in closed position and to permit opening of each cover flap.

3. A container according to claim 2, wherein each o-f said rods is heldby looped extensions on the associated cover flap and its end flanges.

4. A container comprising side and end walls and a bottom forming anopen-top box-like structure, each of said end walls having a downturnedextension at the upper part thereof providing double thickness cf saidpart, and also having a slot opening in the outside of said part, a pairof cover flaps hinged respectively to said side walls, each cover flaphaving flanges only at its ends, :and a reinforcing rod carried by eachcover flap and extending completely along the underside of the coverflap adjacent the free longitudinal edge thereof and along the inside ofsaid flanges, the end portions of each rod being shaped to providedetent elements removably seatable in the slot openings in said endwalls to effect snap latching of each cover ap in closed position and topermit opening of each cover flap.

5. A container according to claim 4, wherein each of said end walls hasa finger slot therein below the first-mentioned slot opening, and a flapis turned inwardly from said finger slot into' engagement with theaforementioned downturned extension.

6. A container according to claim 4, wherein each of said end walls hasa linger slot therein below the first-mentioned slot opening, and eachof said down-turned extensions has a portion projecting through theassociated finger slot and forming a cover guard for the associated endportions of said rods.

HERBERT M. KIECKHEFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

